Raise Vegan October 2018 Raise Vegan - Page 41

Transgender Rights in 2018
As of March 2018, 25 states require surgery as a prerequisite to change one’s gender
marker on birth certificates. Those states are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado,
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachu-
setts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Caroli-
na, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia. The remaining
states either change the birth certificate without proof of surgery or will not change the
birth certificate at all.
As of June 2018, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, 19 jurisdictions (18
states plus Washington, D.C.) had adopted laws prohibiting discrimination against
transgender individuals in employment, housing, and public accommodations.
Organizations, such as transequality.org, list rights that transgender people can review
and help them during times of oppression, but the stark reality is, human rights on
paper don’t always equate to fair treatment real life. In acts of bigotry and hate, human
rights aren’t given a second thought by the assaillant.
Everyday situations are often a cause for panic and anxiety in transgender individuals.
For example, using the bathroom of the gender with which you identify, getting health
insurance, showing our driver’s license in a bar, having a conversation about our humor-
ous childhood antics, all of it can be triggering. How will this person react? Are they in a
safe space to speak freely and without judgement? Every interaction can be a challenge.
As parents, we shape our children’s view of the world, we teach them how to treat both
others and themselves, and we show them what it means to be loved unconditionally.
We welcome them into the world and we promise to always be there to support them.
Those words do not come with an asterisk; if our kids don’t ascribe to the gender roles
we’ve constructed for them, that’s not their fault. The problem is expecting our children
to conform to gender roles in the first place. If Leelah’s death has shown us anything,
it is that we have one choice to make. Either we can accept our children for who their
beautiful souls truly are, or we can be stuck in our ways and face the harsh reality that
we may never get a second chance to say we’re sorry.
“Fix society, please.” -Leelah Alcorn
Resources For Parents
Books
The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Fami-
lies and Professionals by Stephanie A. Brill and
Rachel Pepper
Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest
of Us by Kate Bornstein
This Is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids: A
Question & Answer Guide to Everyday Life
Paperback by Dannielle Owens-Reid
Always My Child: A Parent’s Guide to Under-
standing Your Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans-
gendered, or Questioning Son or Daughter by
Kevin Jennings
(NOTE: Transgender, not Transgendered. One
is a Noun and one is a verb/action. Transgen-
der people exist. There is no action needed to
make them exist and no choice to initiate an
action to exist.)
Websites
www.PFLAG.ORG
https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-con-
tent/uploads/AFSP-Williams-Suicide-Re-
port-Final.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC5905855/
Meanings
LGBTQQIP2SAA+ = Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex,
Pansexual, Two-Spirit, Agender, Asexual
Podcast
Gender Rebels postcast
Facebook
Non-Binary Gender Pride
Article Notes:
What is Conversion Therapy
The National Association for Research & Therapy of Homo-
sexuality (NARTH), also known as the NARTH Institute, is a
US organization that promotes conversion therapy, a harmful
and pseudoscientific practice used in attempts to change
or reduce the sexual orientation of people with same-sex
attraction. NARTH was founded in 1992 by Joseph Nicolosi,
Benjamin Kaufman, and Charles Socarides. Its headquarters
are in Encino, California, at its Thomas Aquinas Psychologi-
cal Clinic. It has operated under the name Alliance for Thera-
peutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI) since 2014.
The Big Definitions:
You may see some phrases such as AMAB, DMAB, AFAB,
DFAB. These stand for Assigned Male at Birth, Designated
Male at Birth, etc. They recognize that one of the two binary
sexes is typically established for a person based on a cursory
and unscientific judgement of a physician. Intersex people
have sex characteristics of both sexes and there is “length”
test given to the penile appendage. If it exceeds a certain
length, the person used to be designated male. Shorter, then
they were designated female. Doctors used to mutliate/cos-
metically modify a person to meet the category they chose
for the person. This forced selection of gender results in
problems later in life for many Intersex people.
Sex and Gender are not the same thing.
Cisgender - someone that identifies with the gender they
were assigned at birth. (contrary to what some have said,
this is not derogatory. Cis is a Latin word meaning “On this
side of ”, or “Same”. Trans is a latin word meaning “on the
other side of ” or “Opposite”. Cisgender basically means a
person is not Transgender.)
Cis/Het - someone that is both Cisgender and Heterosexual.
Transgender - someone that does not identify with the
gender they were assigned at birth.
Binary Transgender - someone that identifies as the gender
opposite the one they were assigned at birth
Non-Binary - someone that does not fully identify with the
gender they were assigned at birth. This generally includes
people that are Genderfluid, Trans-feminine, Trans-mascu-
line, Agender, Pangender, Genderqueer and others.
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